Having lived the workaholic’s life for the better part of 20 years, my work habits die hard. And while I’ve taken my fellow workaholics to task (here and here, among other places) for loving too much of a good thing, I’m hardly one to talk. So for those of you who, like me, cannot quite shake the habit of living to work, I will give you a break today and suggest some possible upsides for an unhealthy affection for your profession.

1. Assuming you’re doing a good job and not overloading yourself, your bosses, customers, and coworkers will love you. You can be assured that managers, peers, and direct-report employees will like having you around because you’ll be productive. (Mind you, your family and friends might love you, too…if they ever get a chance to see you, but picky, picky, picky).
2. Your various family members, friends, coworkers, and customers won’t have to guess where you are most of the time because they already know: you’re at your desk, working. (You are standing up every hour or so to ensure that your legs and body get stretched occasionally, yes? Otherwise, you might need to make a doctor’s appointment soon. As was said in an obesity management class I worked on, “Sitting is the new smoking.”)
3. The more you strive to do your job well, the better you will be at doing it. (Of course the same thing also could be said of any personal relationships or hobbies outside of work.)
4. The amount of knowledge you amass can make you an acknowledged subject matter expert in your particular field of work. (Of course if you aren’t sharing your knowledge, you might become irreplaceable in your current job, and to be irreplaceable is to become unpromotable.)
5. And let us not forget that the most inevitable reward for hard work is…more hard work. Congratulations! Don’t forget to make that doctor’s appointment.